New techniques and treatments to get silky, sexy, pin-straight hair. Now you can roll out of bed looking great (seriously)!

Thinking straight?

Thinking straight?

Curls, waves, and wild corkscrews are some of God's great beauty gifts, but try telling that to a woman with straight-hair envy. If that's you, there are new techniques and treatments that make it easier than ever to achieve. Use our guide to end up silky, sexy...and absolutely never fried.

The best at-home blow-out for curls

The best at-home blow-out for curls

* Towel-blot, then apply a heat-protective product (try Blow Heat Is On, $18) for less damage; it'll also give you humidity resistance.
* Using a natural-bristle round brush, start at the hairline: It can be the hardest spot to do. Then work around your head in two-inch sections.
* Don't shake the nozzle from side to side as you work; this can rough up the cuticle and create flyaways. (News to us!)
* Finish each section with a quick blast of cool air to lock in the shape.
* Try a long-lasting frizz-fighter such as Avon Advance Techniques Frizz Control Lotus Shield, $12, which helps hair resist humidity for up to three days.

The Salon Straightener for CurlsWHAT TO ASK FOR: Keratin treatment (also known as KT or Brazilian straightening). A mix of proteins and fixatives is applied from roots to ends, blown dry, then pressed with a flat iron to seal in the solution. "It actually makes your hair look and feel healthier," says Alysia Read, owner of UnSprung Salon in Portland, OR. "The seal gradually wears off over a few months, so there's no telltale line of demarcation," adds Rodney Cutler, who owns three salons (one in humid Miami!). KT isn't brand-new, but now you have options: make your hair pin straight or with a hint of wave that you can easily blow out. And the price has gone down, from about $350 to $250.

HOW TO KEEP IT HEALTHY: Unlike most chemical treatments, KT can be used on colored hair. There has been concern over the active ingredient, which, when flat-ironed, emits vapors that can contain formaldehyde. But chemist Doug Schoon, president of Schoon Scientific in Dana Point, CA, who tested the air quality in salons doing KT, found formaldehyde levels to be within the safe range set by OSHA, the organization that regulates workplace safety. His recommendation: Make sure your salon is well ventilated. We add: Skip cheap-o treatments at hole-in-the-wall spots. Also, avoid shampoo with sodium chloride, as it will break down the keratin coating faster. (Try Bumble and Bumble Mending Shampoo, $28.)

I TRIED IT! "The Brazilian blowout changed my life. My frizzy curls used to take two hours to blow out. Now I have shiny hair that I wear wavy or blow superstraight in 15 minutes." —LISA COOPER, Boca Raton, FL